Prolonged Reunion
by rowlinav
Summary: It has been almost years since the war ended. The Riders are finally starting to take there place again. It is now as Eragon turns 500 that he recieves a suprise present that will bring old feelings to the surface. Obviously set after Inheritance.


**Hi everyone I got the idear for this story when reading the end of Inharitence and had to write it to be able to continue my cross over. Any way hope you enjoy and please review because I am always happy to hear what others think.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Inharitence or it's characters.**

**Prolonged Reunion**

500 years. He had been on this earth for 500 years and for the last 480 he had done nothing but teach, learn and make speeches. Yet he didn't mind. Whenever he grew bored of his life he would just remember his first two decades. He had experienced the loss of an aunt in his first 5 and spent the next 11 just trying to survive. Then he had found a blue stone that had appeared to him, flashing in the middle of the night.

That had changed things; for in that stone resided a baby dragon that had spent around a century waiting, especially for him. After that, his life had changed: he had fought for his life, met every race of intelligent creature in that land, killed a shade, found a host of dragon eggs, discovered unknown members of his family, fallen in love and killed the tyrant king saving his land in the process.

Then, he had left the land, never to return. He had discovered a large uninhabited island on the far edge of an island chain. It was 2 weeks on dragon back away, with a tail wind from the people he loved. The area had yet to be touched by any sentient life so Eragon had given the elves and the first dragon riders the hard task of mapping and naming the entire area.

So the island had been named Doru Araeba in honour of the original home of the Riders, the chain itself was named the dragon isles and the islands of the chain were named after the heroes of all the wars. The isles were separated from Alagaisia by a massive sea that was named the Great Sea. The sea itself took 5 days to cross on dragon back and was only attempted by the older dragons. To Eragon it had been perfect, so it was here on Doru Araeba he had begun to build up the riders and it was here he had created _Moi, _the city that was built to change the world.

But 500 years! Eragon's mind screamed at him, where had the time gone? He felt old despite his youthful appearance. Yet he reminded himself that for an elf he was still quite young for the position he was in.

_Calm down Eragon, you do not see the others two legs act like this for their half a century_. Saphira spoke through their connection.

_That is not true and you know it. The elves hold celebrations of varying size. In fact I hear that Arya's was_… Eragon stopped; his mind went blank as visions of Arya raced through his head. They had kept in contact for a decade after talking to each other through magic. But the experience was a distraction for both of them and letters would not work because they could not trust important information in them. So, aside from a small letter every decade or two wishing the other well, they left the talking to their ambassadors.

He realized just how long it had been since he even saw her face.

_For heaven's sake! You go from one state of self-pity to another_, Saphira commented. Eragon was not offended by Saphira. Despite her age she was still vain and Eragon knew she would be jealous after him being the centre of attention. He knew in 16 years at her 500 he would be.

"Master Eragon, there is a visitor for you," one of his two guards shouted suddenly. He disliked having guards; he definitely did not need them. However, it was tradition so he had 4 riders: one of each race to serve as his personal guard at a designated times.

"Let them in," he commanded, standing from the place where he had been sitting. With his command the doors opened as a short woman with curly brown hair strode into the room with a large cat following behind her.

"Angela, Solembum," Eragon exclaimed retreating a couple of steps in surprise.

"Hello, Eragon: Kingkiller Shadeslayer Master of the Dragon Riders, etcetera, etcetera. Boring formalities." Angela said this with a smile on her face as Solembum walked forwards, rubbing himself on Eragon's leg.

"What are you doing here? It's been nearly 500 years and you look the same, where have you been?" Eragon asking as many questions as he could in one breath while he seated himself on his bead and Angela sat on his chair. Solembum left wanting to talk to Saphira. Angela smiled before saying.

"I have traveled far to the reaches of Alagaisia and beyond. My appearance is my secret as it always has been and I am here for the celebration."

"Why?" Eragon asked.

"Honestly Eragon I thought that it would have sunk in by now. I like to be where the action is. Since every piece of royalty and high society is here along with every notable person in the land, this is the place to be. Also I considered you a friend of sorts back when we served the Varden. It seemed right to come," Angela said as she took out her knitting. Eragon was humbled by the second part of her answer and was about to thank her, when a thought struck him.

"How are all the royalty getting here?" He asked, concerned.

"All of them except one are traveling here with a Rider." Angela said, still knitting contently.

"Who is not?" Eragon asked as he tried to remember the dwarf king's name in the process.

"Arya," she replied matter-of-factly.

As the name hit Eragon he felt like he had been punched in the face by a Kull. He couldn't understand why she was not coming.

"_You did not go to hers," _Saphira reminded him. Eragon could tell from her thoughts there was a deeper meaning to this she was concealing.

_I could not. My fate has already been decided; I cannot set foot on Alagaisia, Arya knew that and I did try to contact her but she was always busy and the spell was too much to hold for no reason. Also, you were supposed to talk to her and explain, _Eragon replied while he made small talk with Angela whose knitting was progressing quickly into a hat.

_I did, _Saphira replied before retreating from the maelstrom of powerful emotions that were circulating through Eragon's mind.

Eragon talked with Angela for a while before mentioning he had to get ready for the celebrations. At this Angela left Eragon. He changed into fresh, formal clothes and left his room. As Eragon left he looked out of the window onto the city._ Moi _was massive; built using designs of Doru Araeba, but with slight alterations. Even after all these years, the city was still expanding. At its centre was Eragon's castle. It dwarfed all others Eragon had seen (it needed to be with all the Dragons) and it towered over its surroundings.

As Eragon entered the atrium he spotted Saphira waiting for him by the main entrance. She was huge, but not as big as Glaedr who was ever so slightly larger. Running up to her, he asked:_ Where were you?_

_Putting the final touches to the celebrations. _She replied before saying _Shall we?_

Eragon nodded jumping into her hollow and together they entered. The hall was packed filled with Dragons, their Riders and people of importance. As Eragon and Saphira walked further into the hall the doors swung shut behind them.

At the end of the Hall, on an elevated platform, was a table adorned in frivolous decoration. At it sat the most powerful people of the land. As Eragon sat down he took note of the four others. The king of humans, King Alfred, was seated 2 places to the right of Eragon. He was there, not only for his position, but the fact that Roran's daughter had married Nasuarda's son and Alfred was their descendant. This meant, technically he was Eragon's relation.

The dwarf king, Thorsund, was two places to Eragon's left and Blodhgarm, as Eragon's second in command in terms of the Riders, was seated to Eragon's immediate right with his dragon, Mist, behind him. However, for some reason the place on Eragon's left was empty.

After taking his seat, the people in the room began to approach, each bearing a gift. Eragon personally thanked each of them. Then came the kings Thorsund gave Eragon a new set of armour, hand crafted by the dwarfs greatest smiths. Alfred however gave Eragon something of far more importance: he presented Eragon with a painting of Roran, Katrina and a baby Ismira. Eragon was understandably close to tears as Blodhgarm gave Eragon the belt of Beloth the wise, much to Eragon's amazement. When asked where he got it, the elf refused to speak. Then came Saphira and as she approached Saphira projected her voice to everyone in the room.

_Eragon, my partner, this is my present to you _and with that Saphira expanded her thoughts even further,_ Enter._

The double doors flew open and in their wake stud a green dragon with an elven Rider. As the dragon approached Eragon saw a sight that he did not think he would see again: the elven queen dressed in her finest cloths. Arya.

As the dragon reached the platform, Arya slid down his side to the floor. Then she bowed to each member of the table and said:

"Master Eragon. For our present, Firnen and I give you this. Out of her saddle bag Arya gave Eragon a golden lilie. Despite the many years it had been since he had seen one of its kind, Eragon could still remember the night that lilie's ancestor had been created. It was, to Eragon, a moment he would never forget and the gift meant so much because it represented all his time with Arya and all their experiences. Then Eragon stood, despite his emotional turmoil and thanked Arya for her gift asking her to take her seat on his left. Then, mustering what little self-resolves he had left, Eragon gave his well-rehearsed speech. Then the food was served and the hall filled with noise.

Eragon talked with members of the table, he told Alfred stories of his ancestors', told Thorsund about the attempt to take his life in the clan meet which the dwarf proceeded to apologise for and he talked to Blodhgarm about the latest set of riders. He did not talk to Arya; that conversation was for behind closed doors. The food was delicious. Eragon ate until he could eat no more and then gave his spares to Saphira.

Then a space was cleared and a band formed and as was customary. Eragon knew he had to do the first dance and there was no doubt in his mind who he would like to dance with.

"Queen Arya may I have this dance," he said formally offering his hand, for all eyes were once again upon him.

"I would be honoured," she replied taking his hand. Though it was impossible for her to deny, Eragon still felt a surge of happiness as the two of them walked onto the dance floor.

Then the music started. It was a slow tune meant for couples and Eragon prodded Saphira and Blodhgarm rather forcefully with his mind in revenge, causing both of them to flinch.

Then he lost himself in the music dancing with Arya, looking deep into her eyes. It reminded him of all their sparring matches were the two of them had moved in similar, although a lot quicker, patterns.

The song continued as more couples walked out onto the dance floor but Eragon had eyes only for Arya as they continued to sway to the beat of the music. Then finally the song ended, but Arya did not move from her position and Eragon was not about to pass up another opportunity to dance with her.

The next tune was much faster, catching all the couples by surprise. However Eragon soon found his rhythm and was soon flying around the dance floor with Arya. The two of them moved with a grace that not even elves could muster without practice and soon the whole of the hall was caught up in the spectacle.

But, like most things of the world, the song had to end and when it did the hall was filled with massive applause much to Eragon's embarrassment. Then Eragon felt a slight tug on his hand as he was pulled out of the room by Arya.

The two of them walked together with Eragon taking the lead until finally he stopped in a small glade which was empty except for a dead tree lying in the centre. Then he turned to Arya, mentally preparing himself for the coming conversation, thinking of every possible outcome and how to avoid them.

"Eragon, I'm sorry." That threw him but he quickly recovered and asked.

"What have you done to be sorry for, you have lead your people into a new age of prosperity and have not wronged me in any way."

"I am sorry not for any action I have done, but for how cruel fate has been to you. You have been forced to move away from everything you know, everyone you loved except for Saphira and made to watch from the sidelines as life progressed. And yet when I think that it should not have been you who was forced into this life; all I can say is who else in history could have done so much and received so little, yet still loved the land he lives in." As Arya spoke Eragon saw just how much time she had spent thinking about his fate and him. He felt touched and knew he needed to show her just how much she meant to him.

"There has never been another, you know. I have had many offers and have thought of trying but every time I knew without a shadow of a doubt it wouldn't be right with anyone but you. When Angela read my fate, she said that I would love a woman of royalty and that this love would last for far longer then any empires. That woman is you, Arya and it always will be." As he spoke Eragon watched Arya for her reaction but she showed no outward sign of change. However, when she spoke her voice had a bit of tremble in it.

"You mean in 500 years you have never loved another?" Arya asked

"No," Eragon replied. Finally Arya's emotional mask crumbled away. It appeared to Eragon that Arya was undecided between two paths. One path was him and the other was her people. Then the mask was back on her face.

"We can't do this Eragon, there is still so much left to do, especially with the Riders only just starting to reclaim their rightful place. I can't leave my people yet and we know that we cannot fully concentrate whilst still in contact with each other." As Arya spoke, Eragon could see her eyes filling with tears, just as he was sure his were. He wanted to say something. He needed to say something but his mouth refused to move.

Then Arya turned and ran. Eragon stood there, completely unable to move.

"W_hat are you doing, this is your chance, don't you dare give up now or I swear, Master of our order or not, I will personally rip you to pieces." _Saphira's voice thundered inside Eragon's mind.

"_Her mind is made up and one of the few things outside of my power is the ability to change her mind." _With that in mind, Eragon dejectedly went back to the party.

"Wake up now, you blockheaded buffoon," Eragon's eyes snapped open to find the person who said that, only for them to be forced closed, as a bucket of freezing cold water was poured onto him. He desperately tried to get up but suddenly an unseen weight landed on his chest and sharp claws buried themselves into his body.

"What is going on?" Eragon yelled, as once again he forced his eyes open. What he saw made his blood boil. Angela was standing above him, an empty bucket held in her hands, whilst Solembum was perched on Eragon's chest, claws fully extended.

"What do you think you are doing?" Eragon growled.

"We are here to punish you for being so foolish as to let Arya slip through your grasp once again. Aduna." With that the bucket filled with water instantaneously and was once again tossed over his head so as to keep Solembum dry.

"Enough!" Eragon yelled, shaking his head to try and clear his eyes. "Her mind is made up. There is nothing I can do."

"What a complete load of horse droppings. If her mind was made up then she would not have come and she wouldn't have even heard you out to begin with. Yes, Saphira showed us the memory." Angela then proceeded to lecture Eragon for another seven minutes about how stupid he had been before finally Eragon snapped.

"And what would you know? You had of the impression that Arya was not coming."

"I never said that. I just told you she was not coming with a Rider." Angela's eyes then seemed to soften. "Eragon, I was old before we met and I am even older now. In all my many years I have seen enough to know that the love you and Arya have for each other is too rare to waste. Go after her make her see sense."

"But she is needed to help rebuild –" Eragon began before Angela interrupted by saying.

"Have you seen the elven cities recently? They are almost back to the way they were before the fall. Arya is not as desperately needed as she thinks."

"But the prophecy…"

"Was clouded. This may not be the end." Angela interrupted again. Then Solembum interjected.

"_Did you ever think, Eragon, that your future was clouded not because Angela is not skilled enough?" _This got him an angered look from Angela but he pressed on, "_but because you are one of the few who can change and shape their destiny."_ With that, he jumped off Eragon and proudly walked out of the room.

"Go after her, Eragon," Angela pleaded, before she too walked out of the room after Solembum.

"_Well, what shall we do?" _Saphira asked. Eragon pondered her question before coming to a decision.

"_We shall follow her even if it is to the ends of this earth." _With that, Eragon leapt out of his bed. He dried himself before getting dressed to contact all the people he needed to let know of his absence with his mind while he went.

It was less then ten minutes since Angela had left his room. Eragon was in the courtyard with Saphira, attaching her saddle. Around him was clustered a group of people. Blodhgarm stood next to Eragon having already received his instructions. He was helping Eragon gather supplies.

"Master Eragon, how long do you think you shall be gone?" Blodhgarm asked whilst attaching the last sack to Saphira's saddle.

"I hope to catch her before she can get to the Great Sea, but if I don't then I shall be around 4 weeks," Eragon replied as he leapt up into the sky using magic to propel himself onto the saddle.

"Sir, 3 weeks would be more accurate only one-way. You would need a tail wind to make it to Alagaisia in 2."

"Yes, but you forget Saphira is the fastest dragon alive and with me on her back our speed is truly monumental."

"Good luck, my friend," Blodhgarm told him with a smile. Eragon smiled back and with that Saphira launched herself into the air.

Saphira flew as fast as both her and Eragon dared push it while leaving enough energy to cross the Great Sea. They had soon left Doru Araeba way behind by the end of the day. But there was one problem Eragon had not considered. At the speed he and Saphira were flying they might fly straight past Arya and Firnen. This meant that they had to go to each island in the Dragon Isles so Eragon could scan for them with his mind.

"_This is hopeless,_" Saphira complained as they left another island which had no trace of Arya. "Could we not just fly to the elven capital and wait?" she asked.

"_No, I do not want to risk going to Alagaisia unless necessary and we can't wait at the end of the Great Sea. If you are too quick we would have to remain flying for days, so this is the only way we could do this without tempting fate's wrath,_" Eragon replied, although he too was starting to lose hope. They would find Arya on any of the islands.

"Fine, as long as you realize we may still have to enter Alagaisia," Saphira said. Eragon did not reply so Saphira tilted her wings slightly and increased the power of each flap so they hurtled through the air at awe-inspiring speed.

The days slowly trickled by. Soon, Saphira neared the last island in the chain which was by far the largest. The island had only just been formed when Eragon had first arrived in the region. It had been barren with no life at all on it giving it and aged appearance. At its centre was the island's greatest feature: a large volcano that dwarfed everything else in the dragon isles. When the idea to name the islands after heroes had been thought up, the elves had immediately christened the land 'Eragon Island', claiming that only this island deserved to be named after the two greatest heroes in the history of the Riders. Now the island was full of life and, as the first island in the chain, it had become an active trading-post. But it was more then that; the island had trees, flowers, plants and animals of all kinds.

Suddenly, Eragon felt two minds that he was familiar with on the far side of the island. It was Arya and Firnen. Eragon immediately tried to contact them but walls appeared in each of their minds at his touch and the two of them were in the air almost immediately, flying out over the Great Sea.

"_They're blocking me still. I can't talk to her,_" Eragon told Saphira causing her to growl in frustration. _"Do you think you have enough energy to fly over the great sea?" _he asked fearfully.

"_To end this I could cross the great sea 10 times and still have enough energy to shake you stupid, for how long this has gone on" _Saphira answered before letting lose a huge gout of fire and setting off in pursuit.

Again and again Eragon tried to access Arya's mind, but he could find no purchase, for it seemed she had only one thought; to get away from him. Eragon was slightly hurt by the idea. As far as he knew he had done nothing wrong.

"_She believes she is still desperately needed by the elves so she doesn't want you to try and change her mind."_ Saphira told him.

"_But she is not desperately needed. Someone else can do her job now," _Eragon told Saphira.

"_Don't tell me that. Tell her,"_ Saphira told him

The days slipped by and surprisingly Firnen was able to match Saphira's pace. Soon Eragon and Saphira had reached the border with Alagaisia and were forced to stop, allowing Firnen to start to slip away.

"_What do you want to do?" _Saphira asked.

"Solembum was right. I get to choose my own destiny," Eragon declared. With that Saphira once again set off in pursuit of her old mate.

For three days, Eragon and Saphira chased after Arya and Firnen and were now right behind the green dragon. Suddenly, storm clouds gathered on the horizon. It soon became obvious to all four of them it was going to be a massive storm but still Arya pressed on.

"_What is she doing?" _Eragon asked Saphira,_ "She'll get herself and Firnen killed." _Eragon asked Saphira.

"_What should we do?" _Saphira asked. Eragon didn't even need to think about the answer.

"_We will follow them."_

With this final thought the two of them set about preparing for the storm by casting wards, tightening supply sacks and dropping back a bit from Firnen to give allowances for the storm. Then, as the storm clouds neared, Firnen sped up, flying into the dark clouds.

"R_eady?" Saphira asked Eragon._

"_Ready," _and with that, the two of them plunged like a dagger into the clouds after Arya.

Eragon immediately felt the strength start to slowly drain away from his body as the storms effects were stopped by his wards. The dark clouds had completely enveloped them making it impossible for Eragon to see more than 5 feet in front of him. Quickly he used another spell to improve his eyesight. He could see Arya and her dragon in front of him but that was not what grabbed Eragon's attention. It was the lightning that was flying through the air all around him that commanded that.

Then the storm's wind currents hit them and he and Saphira were forced to fight for their lives as they were tossed around like rag dolls. But still they persevered. As the hours flew by, Eragon felt his strength starting to dwindle and he grudgingly amended his wards so that only he was protected from the rain, not the saddle bags and completely got rid of the spell that was shutting out the sound of the storm. As soon as he did this, Eragon regretted it, as the sound of the rain and thunder almost deafened him. And still they pressed on, following Arya and Firnen through the night.

Then, late in the next day, Eragon found the storm clouds starting to thin and from his previous experiences Eragon knew they were no more than an hour from the end. He felt an immediate sense of relief that soon turned into despair, as the storm, in one last cruel joke, sent an incredibly powerful lightning bolt straight at Arya. Eragon watched, paralyzed with fear, as the lightning overwhelmed Arya's wards and struck her and Firnen, with its slightly weakened power, causing them both to lose consciousness.

Then everything seemed to happen at once. All four of the group burst out of the storm cloud. However, Arya and Firnen were now falling towards solid ground. Because of this Saphira was forced to go into a dive also while Eragon tried desperately to wake Firnen up, but to no avail, as Arya's wards stopped his spells every time. The ground continued to rush towards the dragons all this time until Saphira was forced to pull up. In one final effort Eragon shouted out.

"Letta!"

It was a simple spell but Arya's wards did not stop it because Firnen suddenly stopped it. Then Eragon felt the colossal strain of the spell take effect. His whole vision went black and white and Eragon was forced to drop Firnen. But the spell had done its job. When Firnen hit the ground he broke the majority of his ribs but he was still alive.

Saphira hit the ground a couple of seconds later and her legs absorbed the massive force of the fall. Eragon cut himself out of the saddle and slid down Saphira's leg to the ground were he lost consciousness.

When Eragon came to he found himself lying on the ground next to a blazing fire inside a dark cave. Slowly, Eragon's senses returned to him as he sat up to discovered that he was not alone in the cave. Arya sat on the other side of the fire, head bowed, from what appeared to be weariness. Outside the cave Eragon could make out the faint outline of Firnen who was curled up outside.

"That was stupid what you did," she told him without looking up.

"What about you, flying into that storm?" Eragon groggily told her.

"I did one stupid thing; you did two," Arya countered.

"You're wrong, I did three stupid things," Eragon said.

"I don't understand. You followed me into that storm and completely stopped Firnen in the air; that's two," Arya answered confused.

"The third stupid thing I did was I let you walk away that night. I should have stopped you." Silence permeated the cave. That was when Arya looked up, Eragon looked into her face and he could see tear stains running down her face.

"Eragon, I thought we had discussed this." She said moving round the fire to sit beside Eragon.

"We have discussed this on a lot of occasions. That does not mean it is over." Eragon replied.

"ERAGON! This has to stop. You have abandoned your position and almost died several times, so I am going to tell you now this sto…." Arya was stopped mid-sentence as Eragon leaned forwards and kissed her. Arya's eyes widened in shock before eventually closing as she started to kiss back. Time itself seemed to slow down for the two of them as they were captured in that moment.

"_It is about time,_" Saphira commented, as she swooped down and blocked the cave entrance with her massive form while in her jaws was a large deer. Eragon and Arya stood up. Eragon had fake anger showing on his face.

"It would appear that giant blue lizards do not know the meaning of privacy." Eragon sarcastically remarked while a smile spread across his features.

"_I heard that,_" Saphira announced as she deposited the dear at the feet of Firnen before also curling up.

"Eragon we have to talk," Arya sadly spoke from behind the rider, who then spun around, the smile fading from his face.

"Eragon, I am still needed to help rebuild. I can't leave yet." Arya told him in what normally would have ended the situation but Eragon had come so far and had waited too long to give up now.

"Arya you aren't needed any more. The elves are flourishing, please, for once in your long life, lay aside your sense of duty and do what your heart wants." Eragon begged her.

Arya seemed to struggle with herself before rushing forwards and kissing Eragon. The two stayed locked in there embrace illuminated by the dwindling fire.


End file.
